Raving For You
by Alas Vomit
Summary: The Marauders have decided to sneak out of the castle one night, but on their way they run into an unlikely person who leads them to an even more unlikely place. Rating may go up for strong adult themes drugs and the like . A bit anachronistic.
1. In the Tunnel

James walked coolly down the hallway after making the last rounds of the night. When he reached the Tower, he opened the door, but instead of entering the common room, he simply held it open for a few moments before shutting it again.

"Everything clear?" a voice squeaked out of nowhere as James made his way toward the staircase. There was a muffled grunt like someone being elbowed in the ribs.

"Don't worry, Pete," James said, pulling the Invisibility Cloak from his friends' heads. "Filch is drinking in his office like he always does right about now, and every other teacher doesn't start rounds for another hour." He tucked the Cloak under his arm, checked his watch, and picked up his pace. "C'mon. The pub's going to be packed if we don't get through the passage soon."

The boys hurried behind James until they reached the statue of the One-Eyed Witch. Peter was first through. While he was struggling down the narrow passway, Sirius whispered to James, "So where's Evans? If she's around, you know she'll bust our asses, and my ass just doesn't need it." Peter hit bottom with a thud, and Remus slid down easily behind him.

James looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't know. She wasn't on her rounds so I assumed she was going to take them later. She wasn't in the common room?"

Sirius climbed onto the slide and shook his head. "Not that I saw, mate, but you never know with that one. She's likely recording us right now, waiting to turn it into McGonagall in the morning."

He pushed off, and James stifled a laugh. He was still chuckling to himself when he heard Sirius hit bottom like always and crash into the opposite wall. He never made the landing gracefully, but this time there was an extra commotion and a strange squeal. James threw both legs over the slide and catapulted down.

"What's going on–" he started to say when Remus lit his wand and the tight passage was cast into light. Remus and Peter stood next to James with Sirius at their feet, still on the ground. He had his wand outstretched, but his arm still shook a little with surprise. James shifted his gaze across the tunnel and nearly burst with laughter.

"Evans?" he croaked out. "What the hell are you doing here?" She was pressed against the rock, her face completely flushed.

"Apparently, Potter–" she tried to bite out, but her words caught in her throat so that she sounded breathless. "Apparently, we both were doing the same thing." When James just looked at her dumbly, she added, "Escaping."

"You're sneaking out?" Sirius said, standing up at last. "I can't believe it. Lily Evans is sneaking out. I think the world is ending." He laughed hardily, and Peter joined in. Remus still stood frozen in shock.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" Lily effectively huffed, pushing off the wall and continuing toward Honeydukes.

The boys stared after her until she was a couple meters away. "Wait!" James called, sprinting to catch up with her. She looked at him angrily and picked up her pace. "Can't you slow down?" he asked.

"Not if I'm going to get where I'm going on time," she said. "This passage takes at least half an hour at a good clip."

James stumbled a little and gave her a surprised look. "You've been in here before?" Behind them, the boys started to follow at their leisure.

"Yes, I have. Are you having trouble with the possiblity that I might break a couple rules every once in a while?" she demanded, turning to look at him and slowing down.

James almost laughed in her face. "This isn't a couple rules, Evans. This might be the whole rule book being thrown out the window."

"Well, whatever it is. I've done it enough to know I'm going to be late."

James smiled. "Late for what?"

Lily was silent for a while, and James started to think that she was going to ignore him for the rest of the journey. The only sound in the stone passageway was Sirius' sporadic snorts and murmurs of, "Lily Evans sneaking out. With us. How rich."

Finally she broke the silence. "I'm meeting my cousin Andy in London, and we're going to a ra–" She stopped herself and exhaled sharply. "We're going to a party."

"You're Apparating!" James accused, grinning ear to ear. "You really are out to break all the rules."

"I'm not breaking a rule by Apparating. I have my license; it's perfectly legal." She held her head high, proud as always of being in the right.

James had to think of some way to bring her off her cloud; he was not ashamed to admit that Lily was best when served angry. "Well," he began, searching for the perfect remark and finding it. "You know, the guys and I, we all have our licenses, and we were only going to the Hogshead for a couple drinks, but what do you say if we tag along?"

Lily considered it for a moment, which was further than James thought the idea would go, then she slowly nodded her head. "I think it'd be okay, but you can't tell anyone about what happens tonight. Got it?" she demanded, deathly serious.

James' smile grew bigger, and he quickly said, "Yeah, whatever you want. We're in. So where's this party?"

"Actually, I never know until we get there," she admitted. "It's sort of this Muggle thing that moves around so it doesn't get busted by the police."

"Like a rave?" James asked absentmindedly. Lily looked at him, startled, her eyes wide like a deer in headlights. He raised an eyebrow and bit his lip. "It is a rave, isn't it?" he said with schoolboy delight.

Lily shot a quick glance behind them. The boys were lagging by at least five meters. "Basically."

James jumped as far as he could into the air in excitement. "So have you ever done anything at these raves?" he asked, knowing he was pushing her past where she was comfortable.

"No," she answered curtly, "but we have to hurry. Andy is going to be in the alley in fifteen minutes. Go tell your minions that you're coming along."

James ran back to the Marauders without even a word and told them everything Lily had just told him. In a minute they were all by her side, asking questions at an absurdly fast rate. "Shut- up!" she nearly screamed, ending their bombardment. "If you want to go at all, we're going to have to run. You wasted so much of my time back there." With grins plastered on their faces, the boys set off, leaving Peter behind with Lily. She started after them, but when she did not hear footsteps behind her, she turned her head and yelled, "You're coming, aren't you, Peter?"

The pudgy boy looked at her and the quickly disappearing figures in the distance. He stole a glance behind him at the long, dark tunnel. "Yeah," he squeaked, starting to run at a slow and wobbly pace. "I hate running, though."

Ten minutes later, James pulled Lily into the basement of Honeydukes. The boys stood gathered around her, looking dishelved but happy, except for Peter. He was hunched over a barrel of caramels, gasping for air and still murmuring his newly adopted mantra, "I... hate... running." As soon as he straightened up and gave his friends a sweaty nod, the boys turned instinctively for the stairs, but Lily grabbed Sirius' arm.

"There's no need to risk going upstairs," she whispered, looking up as though she could see through the wooden beams. "We can Apparate right here, but first I need to change."

James saw Sirius give her a strange look. "Don't you only own jeans and sweaters?" he asked, doubtfully. Silently, James agreed. He really could not remember a time when Lily did not wear anything besides except, of course, for the school uniform.

Lily pulled out a very small bundle of clothes and said, "Do you honestly think I'd go to a rave like this?" At their raised eyebrows, she rolled her eyes. "I'll be right back," she explained, slipping through a small door behind a stack of pallets.

The boys looked at each other and spontaneously started to alter their outfits. James and Sirius were already in jeans, but they still wore their white button-down shirts. Sirius undid the first three buttons, giving him the bad-boy look for which he was infamous, and James just slipped out of his. His plain white undershirt looked striking with his dark pants and flat trainers. Remus already had on a pair of long shorts and a t-shirt. Peter, still wearing his slacks and button-down with a old bomber coat, was the only one who couldn't figure out how to change his clothing so he just took off his jacket.

Two minutes later, Lily stepped from the bathroom in a green sequence halter-top and a lithe skirt that hit mid-thigh. Green pumps that matched her top clicked against the cold, flagstone floor even though she tried her best to step carefully. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a loose bun, and her whole outfit exuded youthfulness and energy. Sirius dug an elbow into James' side and whispered, "Good luck, mate."

Lily walked over, completely unaware of James' near incoherent state. "Have you guys used Side-Along before?" she asked.

"Yeah," Remus spoke for the group. "It's going to be hard with this many people though, isn't it?"

Lily shook her head. "Not really. They say you shouldn't do it, but it's easy. Just think of an alley, any alley, then try to think of _my _alley. I'll concentrate for all of us, but you can't leave the magic to me. I won't have energy left if you do." They all stood in a straight line with Lily in the middle between James and Remus. James jolted out of his catatonic state as Lily snaked her arm around his waist. She looked at him oddly but when he did not look back continued with her instructions. "Now just grab the person next to you and hold tight. On the count of three..." They wrapped their arms around each other and stood still for a moment.

"1," she counted off slowly, beginning to concentrate on the alley that she had met Andy in so many times before.

"2." The boys crunched together instictively and held their eyes shut tight.

"3." Each of them spun on their heels, and in a moment, they were rushing through space towards a nearly deserted alley in West London.


	2. London Calling

A/N: I'm such a liar. It's been-- what, almost two months? You should really hunt me down now. Anyways, I'm going to write the rest of this story which should be finished soon because summer is starting then I will post it all. That way there will be none of this ridiculous waiting.

James had never Side-Along Apparated with more than two people, and he imagined that if someone tried to stuff him in his school trunk with all of his things still in it, it would feel something like this. When the alley came into view he gasped for air and nearly fell over. He let go of Lily and Remus and collapsed onto an old milk crate that was turned upside down. The others followed suit, and after a few seconds, James wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "That hurt like hell, Evans."

"It hurt?" the group asked in synchronized wonder. They were panting, but none of their faces were contorted from the unbearable pressure like James' was.

Still breathing deeply but beginning to feel a little better, James nodded. "It felt like a hippogriff was sitting on me. All this pressure... just pushing from everywhere."

Lily looked absolutely puzzled. She stood up from her bin and pulled out her wand. "It should have worked the same way that two-person Side-Along works," she mused aloud while she tapped the wand on his wrist. A light orange light faded to white on the tip before dimming to darkness. "You were in the middle so all of our weight must have shifted onto you. We'll just go back individually since we all know Honeydukes."

"Is he alright?" Remus asked worriedly, his face sharing the same concerned look that Sirius and Peter wore.

"Yeah," Lily said, "his vitals are fine. Are you still up for...? I mean I would take you back if you weren't."

James shook his head. "I'm fine now. Let's get going. I'll just Scourgify myself." He pulled out his own wand and pointed it at himself. His clothes and hair dried instantly. When he was finished, he stood up and moved to place his wand back in the pocket of his jeans, but Lily grabbed it before he knew what happened. "What in Mer--?"

"I can't believe I forgot to tell you," she said calmly as she held out a hand to the boys. "You can't take your wands."

Sirius shot off his seat and placed his hand over his own pocket. "There's no way I'm wandering around London without a wand," he said in a low voice. "I mean, just what do you propose we do with them? Stick 'em in this dumpster for safe keeping?"

Lily looked him in the eye, unaffected by his outburst, and coolly said, "If you want to stick yours there, be my guest, but there's a couple lockers in the Tube station that we can use."

Sirius still refused to hand over his wand even after she shoved her hand at him with emphasis. "Why do we even have to leave them?"

"Because, Black, a lot can happen to a wand at a rave. It could get broken or lost or stolen or worse." Sirius saw the logic in her argument and slowly pulled his wand out of his jeans. The others followed suit. "Thank you." She shoved the wands inside of her bundle of clothes and started toward the street. "Hurry up. Andy's bound to be waiting."

The Marauders raced to catch up with her, and as they rounded the corner, they nearly ran into a man with the same eyes as Lily. His skin was pale, and his closely shaved hair was brown. His stocky body was covered in nearly all black from his half-open button down to his jeans that were ripped off below the knee. "Andy!" she squealed, hugging him briefly.

He hugged her back and said, "Nice of you to finally come." Her laugh was interrupted when he looked at the band of boys behind her and playfully remarked, "Friends, Lily? I didn't know you had any."

"You're a prick, Andy," she said jokingly, letting go of him to introduce them. "This is Remus, Peter, and Sirius." She pointed to each of them in turn. "And this is–"

"The name's James, mate," James interrupted, throwing an arm around Lily's shoulders, "Lily's boyfriend."

Andy shot Lily a look of surprise, and she in turn shot James a death glare. "I am _not _his girlfriend," she ground out, each word standing by itself. "We are not dating."

"No need to be ashamed, cous'," Andy said, casually dismissing her anger as embarrassment. "It's about time you got some action. Nice to meet you, James, Sirius, Peter, Remus." Lily's head looked like it was about to implode. James cautiously removed his arm. "Well," Andy picked up, crossing the street with the others trailing behind him like ducklings, "we've got a quick Tube ride then it's right there. Are you using a locker again?"

Lily looked at the bundle in her hand and told Andy that she was. To James she muttered, "You'll be lucky if you come back and find that I didn't snap your wand."

"Just relax, Evans," he whispered back. "Why don't you admit it already?"

"Admit what?" she asked, confused and angry, as they rounded a corner and the Tube station came into view. In front of them, Andy, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all talking animatedly about all the crazy things that they had seen or done. Currently Sirius was attempting to tell Andy about the time that he and the boys had dyed Snape's lips blue, making him look like he had frozen to death, but he broke out in laughter at every good part so that Remus was forced to continue for him.

As they loaded onto the escalator that would take them into the station, James finally replied. "Admit that you like me," he said as if it was an obvious conclusion before he turned his attention back to the storytelling. It was Andy's turn, and his story centered around Lily's seventh birthday when her mother had made a carrot cake, not chocolate like Lily had begged for, and in her anger, Lily had blown up the cake instead of blowing out the candles.

"Do you think that will actually work one of these days?" she asked after a few moments. James turned back to her. "Five years so far and I haven't admitted anything to you."

"No, but we _are _currently about to attend a rave together, and that must count for something."

His hazel eyes twinkled with his smile, but Lily simply retorted, "Your being here has nothing to do with that." Silence engulfed the two as she stared down the adjacent escalator and he tuned back into Andy's account of the cake "accident" and its aftermath.

At the bottom of the escalator, Lily excused herself to put the bundle of wands in a locker and quickly walked toward a brightly lit alcove. Sirius pulled James into the circle that the other guys formed and introduced the topic that had been on all of their minds: girls.

"I know things might be different in _your_ world," Andy answered, checking over his shoulder to see if Lily was still occupied at the lockers, "but out here, scoring with chicks is like breathing oxygen, especially at these raves. Bunch o' people you never met, never will meet again, all on drugs or just plain out of it, and most of 'em are girls. Girls dressed like Lily over there, and girls dressed worse... or better depending on where your tastes lie."

Sirius chimed in "better" and added to James, "If you don't get any from Lily tonight, which I'm predicting is how things are going to end up, I'll toss you one of mine."

Everyone laughed, and James said, "Thanks. You're some mate."

Sirius gave him a wink as he spotted Lily walking back with five keys dangling from her hand. When she reached them, she handed each of them a key. "Now whenever you want to leave," she instructed as they walked onto the platform, "just come back here and get your wand from the locker. You can take your key with you or leave it. I have the original; those are just copies I made. They'll disappear after you lock the door again."

"Ok," the boys answered in unison, as the train roared into the station. The doors opened wide in front of them, and Andy led them to a barren area.

"How many stops is it from here?" James asked, looking at a map on the side panel of the car.

Andy pointed to a faded blue dot. "We're here, and the warehouse is here." He traced a path blacked out with a marker until he reached another blue dot. "You can't see it, but it's three stops. They're real small so, if we have any luck, nobody will be on the platform and the driver will go on through."

"Awesome," Sirius said, tapping his heel impatiently on the hard metal floorboard. The group sat in silence for a moment before Remus cleared his throat.

"Isn't there going to be some sort of... entry fee?" he asked uncertainly.

Andy nodded his head then asked, "Don't you have any money?"

"Yeah," Remus answered, "but all of our money is in _our_ money. We don't have any Muggle currency."

Lily leaned closer to her cousin and whispered something in his ear. Andy nodded and explained, "There's a door charge of two pounds, but I can get us in without paying no problem." He smiled widely at the boys and whispered something else in Lily's ear.

"No, I won't!" she nearly screamed, jumping from their huddle. "That's not even a fair price." James, Sirius, and Remus had the odd feeling that this price was over their entrance to the rave.

Andy pulled her back to him again and offered something else. This time Lily nodded but stared him defiantly in the eyes. "Don't act like I'm forcing this on you," he said defensively. "It's what you've been talking about for so long. Treat yourself for once, cous', and indulge in the finer things in life."

"It's not like I'm abstaining just for the hell of it," she argued back. "I don't want to get hurt, and that's what's bound to happen. You don't understand what this entails."

"I understand enough, and I can't see anything bad coming out of it. Just do it for yourself."

"Ok, I will," Lily finally relented. Sirius coughed to cover the awkward silence, and her eyes snapped up to meet four pairs staring back at her. "Oh, sorry," she said, realizing they had overheard her conversation, "I didn't realize I was getting that loud."

"No problem," James said, but neither other boys nor Lily could think of anything else to add.

Sensing a need to fill another impending silence, Andy picked up the story-telling conversation exactly where it had ended before. "Anyways, when Lily sent the cake soaring through the air, Gram caught almost half of it in the face. Since then she's been convinced that the force of impact has knocked crystals loose in her ears. Downright crazy that one is." They all laughed, including Lily. She had to admit that when the boys acted like this, they were actually fun to be around.


	3. Glittering

A/N: I'm not really feeling this chapter (or this story), but after three attempts, I think this is the best version of this chapter, so here you are. Comment on what you like, what you don't like, or whatever else you might want to say to me. --Ris

* * *

The road above the Tube was dark with only one lone streetlight illuminating the area around the Tube staircase and a neon pink sign advertising the 24-hour diner farther down the road. Some buildings had a dull yellow light shining beneath their awnings, but most had already been turned off for the night.

"Just down here," Andy said, leading the group toward the diner sign. Three buildings from the metallic restaurant he ducked into a narrow alley barely big enough for them to pass in pairs. "No one should see us comin' in this way," he explained, "but if they do, just follow my lead, yeah?"

They all nodded as he opened a pair of cellar doors. Andy walked down a couple stairs, looking down the long, dim corridor before motioning for the others to follow. One by one, they entered the warehouse.

The concrete on the walls was thick and smooth, but the pounding rhythm of music and feet still seemed to rain on them from the ceiling. Lily's heels echoed hollowly in the corridor, and James thought for a moment, _How in the world is she going to dance in those?_ But, she seemed to be moving elegantly now, not missing a step even when the floor beneath her feet transformed from dry cement slabs to slick metal doors.

The group walked in silence, trusting Andy to lead them through the darkening labyrinth. Suddenly, Peter asked, "What is this place?"

Andy ran a hand over the wall and answered, "It was a storehouse for some auto parts or somethin', but it's been empty for a while, sold up to some company that doesn't come round anymore."

"So," Peter tentatively prodded, glancing behind them at the staircase disappearing in the gloom, "so, you don't think the police will raid this place?" James watched Sirius and Remus' ears perk at the question.

Andy laughed and said, "This place is pretty secure, and nobody cares to check out what a little noise is. Loads of people just assume this warehouse is rented out for parties since the company never comes by." Peter still looked nervous, so Andy added, "Man, if the fuzz does come in, we'll be heading for this tunnel while everyone else heads for the doors upstairs. The other end of the alley comes out near the next Tube. No worries."

Peter still eyed the ceiling and the passage wearily, disbelieving that it would make for an easy escape, and Andy saw that no matter what he said, Peter would still be jittery, so he just quicken the pace.

After rounding a corner, they reached a low, wide door that brought them to a set of stairs. They took the stairs two at a time, and when Andy opened the door on the second landing, loud music pulsed through the stairwell and evoked a laugh of excitement from Sirius. James followed the others and held the door for Lily, but she had not reached the landing yet. He glanced at Andy leading his friends onto the dance floor, where scores of ravers moved in hypnotic rhythm in time with the music, but he let the door shut and crossed to the railing.

"Not in a rush to dance with me?" he asked playfully.

"Not in a rush to break my ankle," she corrected, finally mounting the landing and smiling at James. He felt a grin plaster itself on his face at the realization that she had not actually turned him down.

Stepping backwards, he headed for the door, and on his way, he asked, "If you can't climb stairs, how are you going to dance?"

Lily laughed. "Dancing does not require tottering on a ledge. Plus, I'll probably kick these off after I– at some point."

Eyebrows raised, James glanced at her and blocked the handle of the door. "After you what?"

She glared at him but could not keep the smile off her face. "Just get out of the way," she changed the subject. "We don't have all night."

He reluctantly opened the door for her, again being bombarded by the pounding music. Lily stepped out and stood in the hallway, unsure of which way to go, before James let go of the door and walked toward the dance hall, motioning that the others had gone that way.

The undulating border of the dance floor threatened to engulf the group as they passed. They pushed to the back of the room where hordes of people in bright dresses and pants huddled around each other. Lily motioned for James to wait for her while she disappeared into the throng, and standing in the no man's land between the dancers and the huddlers, he waited impatiently for her to return. Now that he was there, it was proving more difficult to stay in one spot for long.

In a moment however, Lily came back with four tubes in her hands. "Here!" she screamed close to James' ear so that her voice would carry over the music. "Drink this one then this one. They're seriously the best thing you'll ever taste!" She passed him two of the glasses then traded one of hers for his.

James looked at the liquid skeptically. "What is this stuff?" he asked. He could almost swear that there was a chunk of glitter in his first tube.

Lily looked slightly abashed and said, "I'm not actually sure. Andy gave some to me a couple raves back, so I don't think it's anything more than liquor." James eyed Lily then the tube again. "Just drink it on three, alright?" He nodded his head and prepared himself to drink the glitter concoction.

"This better be amazing," he warned.

"It will be," Lily yelled back. "Now, one, two, three!"

They both tipped back their heads twice, downing both liquids in moments. At first, James felt just as he had before except for the lingering taste of strawberries and cream, but then he felt it right at the tips of his fingers, and when he moved his gaze from the tubes in his hand to Lily, that familiar, drunken pressure was already starting to mound behind his eyes. He was having a hard time believing how quickly the liquids were affecting him. He was no light drinker whenever he drank with the Marauders, but these two shots were already starting to clear his mind of all inhibition. A small voice in the back of his head hoped that it had the same effect on Lily.

He looked at Lily, who was staring at him, and the urge to dance with her overcame him. He grabbed both of her hands and pulled her toward the pulsing mass behind them. "Those were fucking amazing, Evans!" he said, pulling her closely behind him. "Are you sure those were Muggle?"

She let out a singsong laugh and nodded her head. "Positive, but I don't know how." She laughed again, and this time James laughed with her, and it seemed they were laughing for no reason at all as they started to dance to the music.

Lily moved so agilely against him that James could not help but check to see if she still had on her pumps. "No shoes already?" he asked, and she looked down as if to confirm that she really did not have shoes on.

"Must have kicked them off over there," she said, pointing toward the huddlers. "Doesn't matter anyways. They're conjured. I always loose my shoes, so I don't bothering wearing real ones anymore."

James smiled and leaned close to her ear. "You're even smart when you're drunk," he said into it in the huskiest voice his state would allow.

Lily turned hot eyes to him, and then she quickly looked away toward a passing girl with angel wings. She called something out, and the girl sauntered over, fingers reaching into a pouch on her belt. With lazy strokes she smeared streaks of sparkles over Lily's temples before reaching for James'. He pulled back, and a look of bewilderment briefly passed over the girl's face then she was gone, floating farther into the waves of dancers.

James turned back toward Lily with her glittery purple temples. She grinned widely, pulled him closer, and continued dancing. "You look like a mermaid," James suddenly said after a few minutes.

"What?" Lily called back over the music.

"You look like a mermaid," he repeated, and a look of confusion flashed on her face. She stopped dancing.

"Do you mean like the one from the window of the bathroom or like the ones at the bottom of the lake?" A hurt tone laced her voice.

"Oh," James cried out, "I meant the beautiful ones. You just look so beautiful, and the glitter… It makes you look so… so…" He was starting to ramble, and the drink was making his face flush and burn.

"James," Lily interrupted him. He looked down at her, accustomed to the sternness in her voice, and expected her to be exasperated with him, but instead she just raised herself onto her tiptoes and wrapped her hands around the back of his neck. He lowered his face so close to hers that he felt each of her breaths come out in short puffs and looked into her bright green eyes. Closing his eyes, he bridged the gap and pressed his lips to hers.

The air in the room seemed to constrict, pressing on them from all points and enticing a sense of urgency on the two. James pulled her closer to him, suddenly conscience of her barely-there attire. He groaned as his fingers touched her bare back.

Lily twisted her fingers into James' hair and deepened the kiss, moving her hips against his. James heart pounded as their tongues danced together; he felt like every kiss before and after this would pale in comparison.

They stayed like that, kissing and touching, pressed together by other dancers and their own desires, until the shots started to wear off. Lily was the first to come down. She shifted her kisses from James' mouth to his throat then stopped kissing him altogether, just moving her body against his with her face buried in his chest.

James could see the embarrassment written on the part of her forehead that was not covered by her hair, glaring scarlet under silver sparkles. All James could think about was getting more of those shots; all he wanted was more of her kisses.


End file.
